Mideast mobile data traffic to grow 14-fold

Manama, February 16, 2014

The mobile data traffic in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is set to increase 14-fold by 2018, said a new Cisco study.

The Cisco Visual Networking Index Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2013 to 2018 said that across MEA, mobile data traffic growth is being driven by the uptake of Internet Protocol version 6 (Ipv6) - capable smartphones and tablets, with an average growth of 35 per cent.

In the region, smart wearable devices like watches, glasses, and fitness trackers are also slated to post strong growth from 700,000 to eight million, it said.

The MEA mobile data traffic will reach 1.49 exabytes per month by 2018 – the equivalent of 372 million DVDs each month or 4,105 million text messages each second.

About 36 per cent of mobile connections will be 'smart' connections by 2018 in the region, up from 10 per cent in 2013, while 90 per cent of mobile data traffic will be ‘smart’ traffic, up from 76 per cent.

Fady Younes, regional sales manager and client director, said: “As our personal and business lives become increasingly mobile, MEA is really coming to the fore as early, widespread adopters of the latest smartphone and wearable technology.

“Driven by one of the most tech-receptive and youthful populations on the planet, this is a region that is now extremely well-placed to lead technological innovation in all aspects of daily life and business, leveraging the emerging power of the ‘Internet of Everything’ and faster mobile data networks.”

Globally, mobile users are set to grow from 4.1 billion in 2013 to 4.9 billion in 2018, mobile Internet connections will grow from seven billion to 10 billion, mobile video will grow from 59 per cent of mobile data traffic to 69 per cent, and mobile speeds will double.

The machine-to-machine connections, which use wired and wifi systems to communicate with devices, will grow from five per cent of mobile-connected devices and one per cent of mobile data traffic, to 20 per cent of mobile-connected devices and six per cent of mobile data traffic.

The number of global mobile-connected devices is expected to be more than the number of people in the world at the end of this year, and by 2018 there will be more than 10 billion mobile-connected devices and nearly 1.4 mobile devices per capita, said the report.

The decline in mobile traffic from 2013 to 2018 will be on web and data applications (28 to 17 per cent), streaming audio (14 to 11 per cent), and file sharing (four to three per cent), it said.

“In MEA, mobile data traffic will continue its growth, which is indicative of mobility becoming a critical characteristic of almost every network experience, and the value consumers and businesses alike place on it. It is also representative of the immense opportunities ahead for service providers who sit at the centre of the Internet of Everything,” concluded Younes. - TradeAraba News Service